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Letter from Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844

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Letter from Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to city mayor [JS] and Nauvoo City Council, [, Hancock Co., IL], 22 June 1844; handwriting and signature of ; eight pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes docket and redactions.
Two bifolia measuring 12⅜ × 7⅝ inches (31 × 19 cm). Each page is horizontally lined with thirty-seven thin lines. An embossment reading “AMES” with a decorative octagonal border is on the first page of both bifolia. The document was folded in half twice horizontally. There are three sets of pin holes in the upper left corner of the bifolia, indicating various efforts to keep the entirety of the document together.
The letter was docketed on the fourth page by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. At some later point, an unknown scribe made insertions in graphite. The letter was copied into JS’s history sometime in 1856. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 it had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early docket, its inclusion in JS’s history, its inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  2. JS History, vol. F-1, 140–143; Source Note for History, 1838–1856, vol. F-1.

  3. “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [4], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  4. See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

During the early afternoon of 22 June 1844, governor wrote a letter to JS and the city council of , Hancock County, Illinois, urging JS and seventeen others to submit to arrest and come to , the Hancock County seat, to answer a charge of . Ford had traveled from , Illinois, to Carthage to investigate the circumstances surrounding the city council’s ordering the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor’s press. Soon after arriving on 21 June, Ford sent a letter to JS informing him of the investigation and inviting JS to send representatives to Carthage to relate the perspectives of JS and the city council regarding the circumstances in question. In response, JS sent and to Carthage carrying a short letter, fifteen affidavits detailing threats made against the Latter-day Saints, and some other documents. The next day, 22 June, Taylor and Bernhisel delivered the documents to Ford at about ten o’clock in the morning. After perusing the documents, Ford told Taylor and Bernhisel that he wanted JS and the others named in the arrest warrant to come to Carthage and answer the charge of riot. By doing so, they could “prove to the people, what . . . [they] professed, that . . . [they] wished to be governed by law.” Ford stated that he believed such actions “would have a tendency to allay public excitement.” When Taylor and Bernhisel countered that it would be unsafe for JS to travel to Carthage “with out an armed force,” Ford “strenuously advised” the “not to bring any arms and pledged his faith as Governor and the faith of the State that [they] should be protected, and that he would guarrantee [their] perfect safety.”
Upon the conclusion of his meeting with and , wrote his 22 June 1844 letter to JS and the City Council, explaining that he believed the uproar in stemmed directly from the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor and the apparent unwillingness of JS and the others named in the warrant to be tried by any court other than the Nauvoo Municipal Court. Ford ignored the arguments that JS had presented and instead proceeded with his own analysis of why the city council had acted inappropriately in ordering the press’s destruction. Ford, who had been an attorney and a judge for several years—and had even served on the Supreme Court—also lectured JS on the Illinois state constitution and how JS had violated its principles. Ford wrote that unless those charged with answered the charges in , he would be forced to call out the state militia to arrest them. He expressed that he was not confident he could control the militia or guarantee the safety of Nauvoo against an attack and warned JS that if he and the others accused did not surrender themselves and come to Carthage, dire consequences would likely result. Ford evidently finished writing the letter sometime around five o’clock in the afternoon.
Upon finishing the letter, gave it to Christopher Yates, captain of the militia, and a posse of between ten and thirty men, who accompanied and back to . After arriving in Nauvoo that night at around ten o’clock, Yates gave the letter to JS. Around midnight, JS wrote a response to Ford.

Footnotes

  1. John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, 24, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL; Letter from Thomas Ford, 21 June 1844.

  2. Letter to Thomas Ford, 21 June 1844; Minutes, 21 June 1844; JS, Journal, 21 June 1844. The other documents included, among other items, copies of JS’s 14 and 16 June letters to Ford, the sent copies of which had arrived in Springfield after Ford's departure for Carthage. (Letter to Thomas Ford, 14 June 1844; Letter to Thomas Ford, 16 June 1844.)

  3. John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, 20–24, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL.

  4. JS offered defenses of the destruction of the Expositor in his 14 June letter to Ford, a copy of which Taylor and Bernhisel provided Ford after they arrived in Carthage. (Letter to Thomas Ford, 14 June 1844; John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, 22, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL.)

  5. John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, 24, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL.

  6. 1850 U.S. Census, Hancock Co., IL, 294[A]; John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, 24–25, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL. In a December 1844 message to the Illinois state legislature, Ford reported that he had dispatched “a force of ten men” to deliver the letter and make the arrests. William Clayton recorded that the posse numbered thirty men. (Message of the Governor, 9; Clayton, Journal, 22–23 June 1844; see also Ford, History of Illinois, 332.)

    Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.

    Message of the Governor of the State of Illinois, in Relation to the Disturbances in Hancock County, December, 21, 1844. Springfield, IL: Walters and Weber, 1844.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

    Ford, Thomas. A History of Illinois, from Its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847. Containing a Full Account of the Black Hawk War, the Rise, Progress, and Fall of Mormonism, the Alton and Lovejoy Riots, and Other Important and Interesting Events. Chicago: S. C. Griggs; New York: Ivison and Phinney, 1854.

  7. Richards, Journal, 22 June 1844. Taylor later recalled returning to Nauvoo around eight or nine o’clock in the evening, but his recollection was written approximately twelve years later. (John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, 25, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL.)

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

  8. Letter to Thomas Ford, 22–23 June 1844.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter from Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844
Letter from Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844, John McEwan First Copy Letter from Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844, John McEwan Second Copy Letter from Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844, as Published in Warsaw Signal History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

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Head Quarters
June 22 1844
To the Mayor & Council of the City of
Gentlemen After examining carefully all the allegations on the part of the Citizens of the country in ; and the difencive matters Submitted to me by the Committee of your citizens, concerning the existing disturbances I find that there appears to be but little contradiction, as to important facts; So that it may be safely assumed, that the immediate cause of the existing excitement, is the distruction of the press and fixtures of the Nauvoo Expositor; and the Subsequent refusal of the individuals accused to be accountable therefor according to the general laws of this ; And the insisting on your parts to be accountable only before your own Municipal Court, And according to the ordinances of your
Many other facts have been asserted on both sides as tending to increase the excitement; but as they mostly relate merely to private persons; and committed by individuals; and tend simply to show the present State of affairs I will not further notice them in this communication
The material facts to be noticed are, that a Newspaper called “the Nauvoo Expositor,” was established in ; that it this Newspaper was deemed offensive to the people of that That the common council without notice or process to the owners, entered into a trial and heard Statements and not under [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844
ID #
1959
Total Pages
8
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Thomas Ford

Footnotes

  1. See “Joseph Smith Documents from 16 May through 28 June 1844.”

  2. On 5 July 1842, the Nauvoo City Council passed an ordinance stipulating that “no Citizen of this City shall be taken out of the City by any Writs, without the privilege of investigation before the Municipal Court.” The ordinance further stated that citizens of Nauvoo would “in all Cases have the right of Trial in this City, and not be subjected to illegal Process by their Enemies.” Another ordinance, passed in August 1842, directed that in any case where a person was “arrested, or under arrest in this city, under any Writ or Process, and shall be brought before the Municipal Court of this City, by virtue of a Writ of Habeas Corpus,” the municipal court had power and authority to look into the legality of the arrest and discharge the person from arrest. Following the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor’s press, JS made use of these ordinances. (Ordinance, 5 July 1842; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 8 Aug. 1842, 98; JS, Journal, 12–13 June 1844; Historical Introduction to Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 12 June 1844; Historical Introduction to Docket Entry, ca. 13 June 1844.)

  3. On or around 10 May 1844, the publishers of the Nauvoo Expositor issued a prospectus for the paper. The first and only installment of the paper was published nearly a month later, on 7 June 1844. (Prospectus of the Nauvoo Expositor [Nauvoo, IL: 10 May 1844], copy at CHL; Nameplate, Nauvoo Expositor, 7 June 1844, [1].)

    Nauvoo Expositor Prospectus. Nauvoo, IL: ca. 10 May 1844. Copy at CHL.

  4. Common council was frequently used to describe city councils during the nineteenth century. (See, for example, Colden, Memoir Prepared at the Request of a Committee of the Common Council of the City of New-York, 1; and Laws and Ordinances of the Common Council of the City of Albany, Revised and Revived, December, 1837, title page.)

    Colden, Cadwallader D. Memoir Prepared at the Request of a Committee of the Common Council of the City of New-York, and Presented to the Mayor of the City at the Celebration of the Completion of the New-York Canals. New York: W. A. Davis, 1825.

    Laws and Ordinances of the Common Council of the City of Albany, Revised and Revived, December, 1837. To Which Are Prefixed, the Charter of the City of Albany, and the Several State Laws Relating to the Said City. Albany, NY: Common Council of the City of Albany, 1838.

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